Last season my brother took my dad to a Cubs vs. Brewers game at Miller Park and I gave him a hard time because I wanted to go. I’m kind of a Cubs fan by default. When we were young our family never watched baseball. When I got older I went to watch some Brewers games at County Stadium, but only a couple years later I moved to San Diego. I went to some Padres games there. I moved to New York. I went to some Mets and Yankees games there. Now I’ve been in Chicago attending Cubs games for 5 years. It’s the longest I’ve watched any one team. So, I wanted to go up to watch the Cubs play, but also, I’ve never been to Miller Park so I wanted to check out the new ballpark.
Lakefront Brewery, Milwaukee
Saturday I went up to Milwaukee for the game. My brother had 4 tickets and his friends Brian and Eric went along too. First we went to Lakefront Brewery. We’d planned to go on a brewery tour, but we got there too late for one and the next was sold out. Since we were there, we just drank some beer. I had the Riverwest Stein Lager, an amber lager, and really liked it. I’m going to try to find it at our liquor store here next time I go.
There were a ton of Cubs fans at the brewery. My brother and his friends said that Cubs games are a lot different experience in Milwaukee than any other team they play. Because Chicago is not that far away, the city is overrun with Cubs fans. I had worn what I thought was a sort of neutral blue shirt, but everyone decided it was more Cubby blue than Brew Crew blue. The Brewers old school blue is very much like the Cubs blue, though.
Richard :: Miller Park, Milwaukee
At about 3:30, we decided to just head over to Miller Park and tailgate until that game started (at 6:00 p.m. I brought up some Half Acre lager and Fat Tire, neither of which you can get in Wisconsin. There was a ton of other beer and chips. And Brian brought burgers made from the beef raised on his family’s farm. My brother’s friends Michael and Julie also met up with us. They were going to the game but sitting in another section. Julie made and brought the most riche, decadent brownies to share, which was perfect because we didn’t have any dessert. The weather was crisp and chilly, but the sun was blazing. By game time I was pretty cold, but I still managed to sun/wind burn my face.
Miller Park, Milwaukee
Walking up to the park we were finishing off our beers. I couldn’t finish mine before we got to the gate so I set it in the garbage can. .. and then I got yelled at by everyone I was with and even some strangers. I had to take my beer out of the garbage and finish it! Garbage beer! Classy.
Richard & Rachelle :: Miller Park, Milwaukee
Miller Park, Milwaukee
Inside the stadium everything was so nice and new compared to what I’m used to. I guess it’s like 9 years old, but compared to Wrigley Field, which is going on 100 years old, it’s brand new. Also, because of the weather, the roof was not retracted. It was like watching a baseball game indoors, which felt kind of weird.. especially when they lit the fireworks off. Inside. During the game we only had a few beers. I think because we had drank so many outside! Made for a pretty inexpensive game.
Miller Park, Milwaukee
Chorizo :: Miller Park, Milwaukee
The fans in the park were almost 50/50, Cubs/Brewers. Fans yelled at each other and tried to out-chant each other, but for the most part they were friendly to each other. I’m sure it happened, but I didn’t see any fans on either side getting really nasty or anything. I bet on chorizo to win the Sausage Race. Hotdog won, then we ate chorizo . I found out that at Brewers games they always sing Roll Out the Barrel after singing Take Me Out To The Ball Game. And the Cubs won!
Drunk Dancing Idiots :: Miller Park, Milwaukee
Before going home a lot of people started tailgating more. We decided just to head out, since we were all pretty tired. Eric drove because he only had a couple beers earlier in the day and the rest of us had many more up til the time we left. He said he didn’t mind because he doesn’t drink much. Perfect. On the way out these two guys and a girl were all dancing for the cars as they were backed up trying to leave. We talked to them for a while. We even gave them a dollar for their entertainment.. which the girl thought we meant we wanted to see her boobs, but luckily we were able to stop her before she did anything stupid in 30 degree weather in front of loads of people!
Stephanie’s Bedroom :: Oak Creek, WI
That night I stayed over in Milwaukee. My nieces were staying at my parent’s house for the long weekend, so I slept in Stephanie’s room. Looks just like my old room when I was her age!
I had a good time at the game and hanging out with my brother and his friends. My only complaint would be that it could have been like 10 degrees warmer to make the tailgating a bit more tolerable. We did ok huddling around the grill and drinking more beer, though. I’ll definitely have to go back to MIller Park again. If not this season then next!
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So, how was Strack & Van Til? I liked it a lot. The store was very new inside and set up well. Spacious, nice displays. Nothing was a mess. They had some great samples out (fried clams, yum!). All the name brands were there as well as some main brands of meat and stuff that we’d never heard of. The prices seemed about the same as other stores, although I must admit I don’t pay super close attention because we usually don’t have the transportation means to shop around. 
